These
accident statistics are copyright Caithness Windfarm Information
Forum 2017. The data may be used or referred to by groups or individuals,
provided that the source (Caithness Windfarm Information Forum) is acknowledged
and our URL www.caithnesswindfarms.co.uk quoted at the same time.
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The attached
detailed table
includes all documented cases of wind turbine related accidents and
incidents which could be found and confirmed through press reports or
official information releases up to 31 December 2017. CWIF believe that
this compendium of accident information may be the most comprehensive
available anywhere.

Data
in the detailed table attached is by no means fully comprehensive -
CWIF believe that what is attached may only be the "tip of the iceberg"
in terms of numbers of accidents and their frequency. Indeed on 11 December
2011 the Daily
Telegraph reported that RenewableUK confirmed that there had
been 1500 wind turbine accidents and incidents in the UK alone in the
previous 5 years. Data here reports only 142 UK accidents from 2006-2010
and so the figures here may only represent 9% of actual accidents.

The
data does however give an excellent cross-section of the types of accidents
which can and do occur, and their consequences. With few exceptions,
before about 1997 only data on fatal accidents has been found.

The trend is as expected
- as more turbines are built, more accidents occur. Numbers of recorded
accidents reflect this, with an average of 33 accidents per year from
1998-2002 inclusive; 81 accidents per year from 2003-2007 inclusive;
144 accidents per year from 2008-12 inclusive, and 167 accidents per
year from 2013-17 inclusive.

This general trend upward in accident
numbers is predicted to continue to escalate unless HSE make some significant
changes - in particular to protect the public by declaring a minimum safe
distance between new turbine developments and occupied housing and buildings.

In the UK,
the HSE do not currently have a database of wind turbine failures on which
they can base judgements on the reliability and risk assessments for wind
turbines. Please refer to http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr968.pdf.

This is because
the wind industry "guarantees confidentiality" of incidents reported.
Please refer to http://www.renewableuk.com/?page=rise&terms=incident.
No other energy industry works with such secrecy regarding incidents.
The wind industry should be no different, and the sooner RenewableUK makes
its database available to the HSE and public, the better. The truth is
out there, however RenewableUK don't like to admit it.

Some countries are finally accepting that
industrial wind turbines can pose a significant public health and safety
risk. In June 2014, the report of the Finnish Ministry of Health called
for a minimum distance of 2 km from houses by concluding: "The actors
of development of wind energy should understand that no economic or political
objective must not prevail over the well being and health of individuals."
In 2016 Bavaria passed legislation requiring a minimum 2km distance between
wind turbines and homes, and Ireland are considering a similar measure.

Our data clearly shows that blade failure
is the most common accident with wind turbines, closely followed by fire.
This is in agreement with GCube, the largest provider of insurance to
renewable energy schemes. In June 2015, the wind industry's own publication
"WindPower Monthly" published an article confirming that "Annual blade
failures estimated at around 3,800", based on GCube information. A GCube
survey in 2013 reported that the most common type of accident is indeed
blade failure, and that the two most common causes of accidents are fire
and poor maintenance http://www.gcube-insurance.com/press/gcube-top-5-us-wind-energy-insurance-claims-report/
.A
further GCube report in November 2015 states that there are an average
50 wind turbine fires per year http://www.gcube-insurance.com/press/gcube-tackles-turbine-fires/
. This is over double the reported CWIF data below, further underpinning
that data presented here may only be "the tip of the iceberg".

Data
attached is presented chronologically. It can be broken down as follows:

Number
of accidents

Total
number of accidents: 2186

By
year:

Year

Pre-2000

00

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

No.

109

30

17

70

66

60

71

83

125

131

131

120

170

168

174

164

153

164

180

Fatal
accidents

Number of
fatal accidents: 136

By year:

Year

Pre-2000

00

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

No.

24

3

0

1

4

4

4

5

5

11

8

8

15

16

4

2

7

6

9

Please note: There are more fatalities than accidents as some accidents
have caused multiple fatalities.

72 were
public fatalities, including workers not directly dependent on the wind
industry (e.g. transport workers). 17 bus passengers were killed in
one single incident in Brazil in March 2012; 4 members of the public
were killed in an aircraft crash in May 2014 and a further three members
of the public were killed in a transport accident in September 2014.
This includes several suicides from those living close to wind turbines.

Human
injury

162 accidents
regarding human injury are documented.

By year:

Year

Pre-2000

00

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

No.

5

4

1

2

2

2

6

10

16

16

9

14

12

15

9

8

9

9

13

During the 162 accidents, 181 wind industry or construction/maintenance
workers were injured, and a further 75 members of the public or workers
not directly dependent on the wind industry (e.g. fire fighters, transport
workers) were also injured. Eight of these injuries to members of the
public were in the UK.

Human
health

Since 2012,
118 incidents of wind turbines impacting upon human health are recorded.

By year:

Year

12

13

14

15

16

17

No.

6

27

19

13

17

36

Since 2012,
human health incidents and adverse impact upon human health have been
included. These were previously filed under "miscellaneous" but CWIF believe
that they deserve a category of their own. Incidents include reports of
ill-heath and effects due to turbine noise, shadow flicker, etc. Such
reports are predicted to increase significantly as turbines are increasingly
approved and built in unsuitable locations, close to people's homes.

Blade
failure

By far the
biggest number of incidents found was due to blade failure. "Blade failure"
can arise from a number of possible sources, and results in either whole
blades or pieces of blade being thrown from the turbine. A total of 376
separate incidences were found:

By year:

Year

Pre-2000

00

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

No.

35

4

6

15

13

15

12

17

23

20

26

20

20

28

35

31

19

21

16

Pieces of
blade are documented as travelling up to one mile. In Germany, blade pieces
have gone through the roofs and walls of nearby buildings. This is why
CWIF believe that there should be a minimum distance of at least 2km between
turbines and occupied housing or work places,in order to adequately address
public safety and other issues including noise and shadow flicker.

Fire

Fire is the
second most common accident cause in incidents found. Fire can arise from
a number of sources - and some turbine types seem more prone to fire than
others. A total of 316 fire incidents were found:

The biggest
problem with turbine fires is that, because of the turbine height, the
fire brigade can do little but watch it burn itself out. While this may
be acceptable in reasonably still conditions, in a storm it means burning
debris being scattered over a wide area, with obvious consequences. In
dry weather there is obviously a wider-area fire risk, especially for
those constructed in or close to forest areas and/or close to housing
or work places. Five
fire accidents have badly burned wind industry workers.

Structural
failure

From the
data obtained, this is the third most common accident cause, with 197
instances found. "Structural failure" is assumed to be major component
failure under conditions which components should be designed to withstand.
This mainly concerns storm damage to turbines and tower collapse. However,
poor quality control, lack of maintenance and component failure can also
be responsible.

By year:

Year

Pre-2000

00

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

No.

15

9

3

9

7

4

7

9

13

9

16

9

13

10

14

13

12

11

14

While structural
failure is far more damaging (and more expensive) than blade failure,
the accident consequences and risks to human health are most likely lower,
as risks are confined to within a relatively short distance from the turbine.
However, as smaller turbines are now being placed on and around buildings
including schools, the accident frequency is expected to rise.

Ice
throw

40 incidences
of ice throw were found. Some are multiple incidents. These are listed
here unless they have caused human injury, in which case they are included
under "human injury" above.

By year:

Year

Pre-2000

00

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

No.

9

0

0

2

2

4

4

3

0

3

4

1

1

1

0

1

1

3

1

Ice throw
has been reported to 140m. Some Canadian turbine sites have warning signs
posted asking people to stay at least 305m from turbines during icy conditions.

These are
indeed only a very small fraction of actual incidences - a report* published
in 2003 reported 880 icing events between 1990 and 2003 in Germany alone.
33% of these were in the lowlands and on the coastline.*("A
Statistical Evaluation of Icing Failures in Germany's '250 MW Wind' Programme
- Update 2003", M Durstwitz, BOREAS VI 9-11 April 2003 Pyhätunturi,
Finland.)

Additionally
one report listed for 2005 includes 94 separate incidences of ice throw
and two reports from 2006 include a further 27 such incidences. The 2014
entry refers to multiple YouTube videos and confirmation that ice sensors
do not work.

Transport

There have
been 188 reported accidents - including a 45m turbine section ramming
through a house while being transported, a transporter knocking a utility
pole through a restaurant, and various turbine parts falling off and blocking
major highways. Transport fatalities and human injuries are included separately.
Most accidents involve turbine sections falling from transporters, though
turbine sections have also been lost at sea, along with a £50M barge.
Transport is the single biggest cause of public fatalities.

By year:

Year

Pre-2000

00

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

No.

0

0

0

4

0

3

6

6

19

10

11

11

24

17

12

17

14

15

19

Environmental
damage (including bird deaths)

219 cases
of environmental damage have been reported - the majority since 2007.
This is perhaps due to a change in legislation or new reporting requirement.
All involved damage to the site itself, or reported damage to or death
of wildlife. 66 instances reported here include confirmed deaths of protected
species of bird. Deaths, however, are known to be far higher. At the Altamont
Pass windfarm alone, 2400 protected golden eagles have been killed in
20 years, and about 10,000 protected raptors (Dr Smallwood, 2004). In
Germany, 32 protected white tailed eagles were found dead, killed by wind
turbines (Brandenburg State records). In Australia, 22 critically endangered
Tasmanian eagles were killed by a single windfarm (Woolnorth). Further
detailed information can be found at: www.iberica2000.org/Es/Articulo.asp?Id=3071
and at: www.iberica2000.org/Es/Articulo.asp?Id=1875.

600,000 bats
were estimated to be killed by US wind turbines in 2012 alone. 1.4 million
bird fatalities per annum are estimated if the US reaches it's 20% target
for wind generation.

1,500 birds
are estimated to be killed per year by the MacArthur wind farm in Australia,
500 of which are raptors.

By year:

Year

Pre-2000

00

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

No.

1

0

1

1

8

1

6

5

10

21

13

19

20

20

16

21

18

22

16

Other
(Miscellaneous)

434 miscellaneous
accidents are also present in the data. Component or mechanical failure
has been reported here if there has been no consequential structural damage.
Also included are lack of maintenance, electrical failure (not led to
fire or electrocution) etc. Construction and construction support accidents
are also included, also lightning strikes when a strike has not resulted
in blade damage or fire. A separate 1996 report** quotes 393 reports of
lightning strikes from 1992 to 1995 in Germany alone, 124 of those direct
to the turbine, the rest are to electrical distribution network.**(Data from WMEP database: taken from report "External
Conditions for Wind Turbine Operation - Results from the German '250 MW
Wind' Programme", M Durstewitz, et al, European Union Wind Energy Conference,
Goeteborg, May 20-24, 1996)